Almost a year since President Uhuru Kenyatta handed over the operations of the Kenya Meat Commission (KMC) to the Ministry of Defence, the parastatal has now turned into a lucrative multibillion venture.
According to the turnaround reports, the Kenya Meat Commission makes an annual sale profit of Ksh3.6 billion from monthly sales of Ksh300 million.
Speaking on Citizen TV on Thursday, June 9, Brigadier James Githaga, the Managing Commissioner at KMC, credited the flourishing business to the efficiency and transparency in running the commission.
"Currently we are doing sales of more than Ksh300 million monthly. In terms of procurement, initially, we had a supplier base of 20 farmers but we have since increased that to over 1,200," Githaga explained.
From making less than Ksh5 million profits a year from the sale of meat, the Ministry of Defence has now revived the plant to cashing out over Ksh150 million in the first three quarters of the year.
"What we have done is to ensure that the operations at the factory are efficiently run, and to keep this plant running, we ensure that we pay suppliers in under 72 hours," added Githaga.
To add value to the operations of Kenya Meat Commission, KDF officials have embraced other products that are packaged and exported to increase the market value of KMC.
"When we took over, all the machines that operated along the processing lines were broken but now we have them up and running and we are currently doing over 42,000 cans of canned beef that is supplied to the disciplined forces in the country which they were initially importing."
Joyce Gichuru, the Chief Grader at KMC noted that when KDF took over the operations, they first repaired the broken machines which are now running efficiently, contributing significantly to the turnaround of the almost collapsing meat plant.
"The machines were initially run down and that hindered how we were doing our work, but now we are able to do 300 cattle during the day and another 300 at night if the demand is high," Gichuru noted.
At the moment, KDF is seeking ISO certification which will allow them to export meat products outside the country and expand by franchising meat retail shops in different parts of the country to get the products closer to the market.
Before Uhuru transferred the operations, the government-owned meat processor was operating below capacity and was grappling with an unreliable supply of raw material and an aging plant, which slowed down its operations.
Before the turnaround, KMC was among the parastatals that were earmarked for sale in a privatisation bid to save it from going under.
